Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always spent with my brother, Jona, and his family. We joke that this is when Santa Grammy comes to town. My mom, who I think loves Christmas more than any of us, always goes way over board with making Christmas magical. Not just with gifts but with making the whole day special.

 

                                                            Santa Grammy and all of her babies.

 

And with my babies...

Seriously, that pile is as big as London!

 

Not only does she give lots of presents, she gives the perfect gifts.

Dylan had been wanting Under Armour boxers for months and I refused to buy them because I think its ridiculous to pay that much for kid boxers (or adult really). Well, of course Santa Grammy picked them up for him.  I wish I had been recording when he opened that present. He burst into a fit a giggles and then got so excited.

 

And Lou had been asking for this cake pop maker for months!

Okay, this is the funniest. The kids have been asking for TVs in their rooms for over a year now. I kept saying "no way", but on black Friday my mom and I came across an amazing deal on TVs. She begged me to let her get them for the kids. I gave in and let her do it. Of course they had no idea it was coming, but every time she asked them if there was one thing they really wanted they would say a TV. Dylan especially wanted one, and I'm pretty sure he corralled London into asking for one too, thinking maybe they could share it. London wanted one, but Dylan reeeeeeeaalllly wanted one. Little did they know they she got them each one.

 

So, when they were opening their gifts, I put London's TV at the bottom of her pile and didn't put Dylan's into his pile at all. She was of course thrilled when she opened it. Dylan asked if it was supposed to be a shared gift and was so confused when we said no. He stayed so polite about it and said something like "Yay, London! We can watch movies in your room!" He was trying so, so hard to be happy for her.

We only carried that shenanigan for about 30 seconds before giving him his last present to open. I've never seen a kid more excited about a gift in my life!

After presents came the best gift of all... time with our family. I'm laughing so hard at the cheesiness of that sentence, but its really true.

 

Santa 2013

Out of all of our Christmas traditions, seeing Santa is at the top of the kids favorite list.

We always go with some of our favorite friends and make a big day out of it.

 

On kind of a side note... for the first time ever, Dylan did not want to wear anything Christmas themed at all this year. I know its part of growing up, but it makes me so sad! I miss the days of Santa rompers and reindeer onsies! At least London still lets me dress her how ever I want. 

 

Back to Santa...

 

 The kids were  super excited to see the jolly 'ole guy. They both decided to only tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas, and not me. I'm pretty sure this was to test out whether or not Santa's magic is real. They ended up getting exactly what they wished for, so I guess it is!

 

 

 

After visiting with Santa, we headed to candy store. Part of our Santa tradition is to take the kids to the candy store and give them each a set amount of time to pick out whatever they want. We change the rules up from year to year. I think this year they could pick out any 4 things in 60 seconds. Its actually a lot harder that it looks! I'm pretty sure its the only time all year long that they even step foot into a candy store, so you can imagine how overwhelming it is for them!

 

After that we let them play in the play place. Its basically the most fun day of the year for them!

 

 

Christmas is my favorite time of the year because its full of moments that are bursting with the magic of childhood and Santa is a big part of that. I love watching their eyes light up the whole month of December long at the sight or mention of him. I love writing letters addressed to the North Pole. I love making cookies to leave by the fire place... I cherish every single second of Christmas magic with my sweet little family!